Electric Fillet Knife

[herefish101]

i've always used my plain old sharper than a razor fillet knife. Last weekend my buddy and i got a limit of crappies and sunfish, so we had alot of fish to clean, i've alwayse considered myself to be quite proficient and fast as well with my knife. I got smoked, he was doing two to my one, that electric knife was too much for me. How many of my fellow HSO'rs made the leap to one of these speed machines and do you all like them, i've seen them on the shelvs at my local GM but never paid any attention to them, are they expensive? I'm just hoping to hear what some of you think, an early thanx for info you provide.

[PierBridge]

Made the switch 10 years ago and would never look back.

Yeah they are bit expensive but well worth it IMO.

I would suggest the Rappala corded AC/DC powered model.

[DTro]

Like Pier said, once you use them you will never go back.

One suggestion, the knives in the small electric dept at the local Target or Wal-Mart are the same thing and a lot less money.

I recently purchased one (Hamilton Beach) for under $20

I cleaned up 4 cats last night in about 5 minutes tops.

[fishermatt]

My uncle bought me my first electric knife in about 1988, and I've burned out 2 and almost 3 now. Can't tell you how many thousand sunfish I've cleaned with electric knives. I always had (and loved) the American Angler model because they made some smaller (like 7") blades that were sweet for panfish. Now they quit making those smaller blades but Rapala has just come out with the smaller blades. Just bought the standard Rapala knife for 39.99 and love it with those small blades.

[TruthWalleyes]

Dtro, First time i used an electric knife to fillet fish was at my friends house, with an electric bread knife. Worked so good, i went and got the rapala electric fillet knife. I figured if that bread knife worked that good, maybe the rapala would be better...bout the same, advantage is the pointed knife of course. Use it every time. Gets all the meat off the skin. Has my vote.

[DTro]

Be careful with the Rapala cordless. I splurged a couple years back and purchased one for $50. Well, it always seemed not quite a powerful as a corded knife and then when the battery was finally shot, I was told by Rapala that they don't sell replacement batteries.

I did find that I could probably rig up a new one myself, but for the cost of that it went in the trash and I purchased a corded "non fishing" knife.

It works great.

[Coon]

The only way to go. Especially at the end of a long day...

[erik-the-great]

i agree with dtro the cordless ones are to slow and the trigger does not lock good enough i bought a anglers best brand, had it for 6yrs and still working great changed blades sense then tho

[buckhunter21]

Yea they are the ticket. Not very expensive and you can go through alot of fish before they go bad.

[jigging-matt]

I finally went to one last year. Takes a little to get good with it. Keep an eye on the Big outdoor store that begins with C. They have specials on theirs for about $10 from time to time.

[Smoker]

I won a cordless about 6 years ago. I thought I would give it a try and I loved it. As said earlyer the batteries don't last. I now have one that I can use with 110 or 12 volt.It is nice when you have a lot of perch to clean. After a while it will be all you need to clean any fish.

[fishgutz77]

My buddy Dana owns a resort on Leech and did all kinds of testing with electric knives and hands down the Black and Decker was the longest lasting and cheapest of all of them.\\\ They cleand thousands of perch and pannies and hundreds of walleyes every year. that was enough proof for me.

I have a corded rapala and so far so good with about 200 walleyes, perch, and salmon on one blade so far.

[Schloogs]

Changed over about 5 years ago, started with a hamilton beach and that burned after about 3 years. I then got the rapala corded electric and also the mister twister(green and yellow one). I prefer the mister twister, IMHO it is much more powerful.

[NoWiser]

Mister Twister is my favorite, by far. Cabelas has one that looks just like it (called the Pro Guide I think) for dirt cheap so I picked one up last year, cleaned a couple fish with it, and literally threw it away. Hated it. The Rapala one is also a great knife, and is what I have now. The thing I don't like about the Rapala is that after 30 or 40 fish it gets so hot that it is uncomfortable to use. Other than that, its a great knife. One warning about the Mister Twister is that, although they are an awesome knife, the switches wear out after a couple years. Still worth buying, though. I don't know how many thousands of fish I've cleaned over the years......but I can't imagine doing them all with an old fashioned knife.

[jmg]

I received the Deluxe Cordless Rapala knife as a gift a couple of years ago. Although I like the concept of the convenience of the cordless model, I would recommend a corded model. Why? The batteries are always discharged when I manage to bring home some fish and even when they are fully charged, I can rarely clean them with one battery.

I've also heard good things about the Mr. Twister model, but I think the Rapala corded model would be good, too.

[DaSwede]

Rapala corded model is what I have and love it. Zip right through pannies and walleyes.

[hibanks1]

I too had the same experience...the cordless batteries on the Rapala went to heck right away...and it has been sitting in the case for two years...batteries wont hold a charge...they do sell them for 26 bucks but by the time you buy two might as well buy a corded knife...but they are the best for cleaning wallys after the beer goggles are on and the limit of two needs to be cleaned.